Seal-lock



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

S. E. ALLEN.

SEAL LOGK.

N0. 349,871. Patented Sept. 28, 1886.

INVENTOR BY M ATTORNEYS.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

S. E. ALLEN.

SEAL LOCK.

No. 349,871. Patented Sept. 28, 1886.

INVENTOR ATTORNEYS.

Pholol-flmgrapher. Wnhingion. n. c.

IlNTTEn STATES PATENT EEicE.

SIDNEY E. ALLEN, OF \VINSTON, NORTH GAROLIN A.

SEAL-LOCK.

SPECIPICATIQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 349,871, dated September 28, 1886.

Application filed July 29, 1886. Serial No. 209,444.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, SIDNEY E. ALLEN, of -Winston, in the county of Forsyth and State of North Carolina, have invented a new and Improved Seal-Lock, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention consists, principally, of the combination, with aseal for car-doors and other objects, of a receiving-wire or holder for retaining the seal after it is broken.

The invention also consists in combining the seal and receiving-wire with the hasp of the look, so the opening of the hasp will cut the seal-wire or other connection.

In applying the seal the hasp is closed, and the sealing-wire inserted and tied between the receiving-rod and lock, and then the lead seal is applied to the extremities of the wire. Then the sealing-pinchers are applied to the lead which closes it upon the sealingwire, and at the same time impresses a number or other device upon the seal to denote its origin. In case the car is opened before it reaches its destination the sealing-wire is broken from the lock, but the seal and wire are retained by the receiving-rod. The car being closed will again be sealed in the same manner with a new seal, the lead of which will be impressed with another number or device indicating the station at which it was applied. This is repeated every time the car is opened until it reaches its destination, at which point the agent will remove from the receiving-rod the accumulated seals, which together make a perfect reeord, so that if any article is lost from the car it can be traced directly to the points at which the car was opened without going to all intervening points.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure l is a broken front elevation illustrating my invention applied to the body of a car and car-door, parts being shown in section, and a broken seal held by the seal holding or retaining device. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view of the same, taken on the line at x of Fig. l, a seal being applied to the lock. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of the same, taken on the line y y of Fig. 2. Fig. -i is front elevation of (No model.)

a part of a car body and door, showing the lock and the seal-retaining device made a part of the lock. Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation taken on the line 2 z of Fig. 4, and Fig. (i is a horizontal section taken on the line 1 2 of the same figure.

A represents a door provided with a plate, B, to which the hasp O is hinged, which is adapted to close over the staple D.

E is the receiving wire or rod for the seals. This rod is arranged in this instance in door A, in line with the hinge joining the plate B and hasp O, the seal in this instance being applied to the lugs or plates a a, attached, respectively, to the plate B and hasp C. The .lugs a a are correspondingly perforated at I) c, for the passage of the sealingwire 6, so that the act of opening the hasp 0 will cut the said sealing-wire. Theperforationsbcarecountersunk, as shown, to form opposing cuttingedges.

In Figs. 4, 5, and 6 the receiving-wire E is attached at one end to the plate B of the hinge, and at the other to the pintle of the hinge, so that the lock and receiving-wire are made together as one article, the receiving-wire requiring no extra attachment except the staple f, which should be used if the receiving-wire is of considerable length.

In order that the lugs a a may not interfere with the opening fully of the hasp O, I form in the hasp and in the plate B the clearance spaces g 9, into which the adjacent ends of the lugs may pass when the hasp is turned back.

In applying the seal the wire 6 is passed through the perforations b c and tied next to the lugs a a. The ends of the wire are then brought out, one on each side of the receivingwire E, and the seal F applied, outside of the wire E, as shown in Fig. 3. The seal is then pressed or closed upon the wire with pinchers, which at the same time impress into the seal a figure or device (as in Fig. 2, for example) indicating the station at which the car is locked. The car being opened at another station the hasp in the act of opening it will cut the wire e, and the seal will drop to the bottom of the rod E, where it will be retained, as shown in Fig. 1. In case the car is opened several times there will be as many seals upon the wire E, each with a different mark, so the seals ICO give a clear record of the number of times and places at which the car was opened, thus greatl y facilitating the tracing of lost packages.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. The combination, with a seal-lock, of a receiving device for holding and retaining the seals, when broken, substantially as described.

2. The plate B and hasp O, hinged to the plate B by an ordinary kn tickle-hinge, in combination with the apertured plates a a, attached, respectively, to the plate B and hasp' O at the hinge. so that in opening the hasp O the plate 61/ will swing in a plane parallel with the plane of the plate a, for severing the sealwire, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with the plate B and hasp O, hinged together, of the seal-retaining stantially as and for the purposes described.

SIDNEY E. ALLEN.

Witnesses:

P. F. DUFFY, CHAS. S. J oHNsoN. 

